My only previous experience with anything Carlton Mellick III was when my uncle, who has some pretty eclectic literature tastes, asked for the author’s Razor Wire Pubic Hair for Christmas when it came out quite a few years ago. I clearly remember ordering it in person from a rather perplexed looking Barnes and Noble salesman, but I didn’t peruse the copy before wrapping it up and handing it over on Christmas Eve. When the TLC Book Tour for his latest release Clownfellas: Tales of The Bozo Family turned up, I happily agreed to take a stab at this book. Mafia…clowns as the mafia…this sounded so twistedly awesome!
Clownfellas: Tales of the Bozo Family is made up of six interconnecting short stories set in the same world of Little Bigtop, New York–where the Mafia is run by clowns, which are an actual different genetic subset of humans. You’re either born a full-blooded clown or a half-blood clown, but a regular “Vanilla” humans can become clowns by being injected with Happy Juice, and it doesn’t always go so well. The mutants that are sometimes made are banished to live in the Sideshow part of town, and no one goes there because it’s very dangerous.
Stereotypes Intermingling and So Enjoyable…
In this book, the author takes the main stereotypes of both clowns and mobsters, exploiting them for our reading pleasure. All of the common tropes are here and twisted in such a way that they’ve become fresh and fun. Like the warring crime families, here it’s the Bozo clown family and the French Le Mystere mime family that’s trying to muscle in on their territory. The human veterinarian that’s called in to operate on the head of the Bozo family’s lion, but the poor veterinarian is afraid of clowns. Also, the poor doctor’s family is kidnapped by the Le Mystere family and he’s ordered to kill the Bozo head if he wants to see his family again. And the wacky clown names mixed with mobster names were hilarious, so you get characters like Vinnie Blue Nose and Pinky Smiles.
Criminal Characters That You Care About…
In these six interlocking stories, you’re introduced to characters that are criminals, but you’re shown sides of them that make you actually care whether the live or die. I wanted Vinnie Blue Nose to pull through while protecting Jimmy Bozo (Don Bozo’s messed up son), even though they’re sure to not make it. I rooted for Pinky Smiles and Hats Rizzo to clear their name, even though I didn’t want either one of them to get back together with Mafia Princess Taffy.
I give Clownfellas: Tales of the Bozo Family a 4.5 out of 5. With imaginative writing and so many different guns, ammunition, and bombs that amazed me with their ingenuity, Carlton Mellick III has definitely written a book that both seems serious and absurd at the same time. Clowns as the mafioso and their rivals are French Mimes? Totally laughable but it completely works in this book. I really enjoyed reading about a few of the Bozo family in each of the short stories leading up to the wedding, and at the end I realized that I hadn’t had this much fun with a book in quite a while. I definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting a fun read that like mafia related books, and the clowns aren’t that creepy.
About Carlton Mellick III
Like a real world Kilgore Trout, cult author CARLTON MELLICK III has been pumping out some of the weirdest, trashiest, most imaginative books that you’ll never want to admit you secretly love.
His books are released on a quarterly basis (every January, April, July, and October).
Best known as one of the leading authors of the bizarro fiction movement in literature, he is also one of the most prolific authors of his generation with over 40 books in print since 2001. He won the Wonderland Book Award for his novel “Warrior Wolf Women of the Wasteland” and has had short stories make it into The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and The Best Bizarro Fiction of the Decade.
Although many of his earliest works are on the surreal and experimental side, his current style is to take the most ridiculous concepts imaginable and approach them with complete sincerity, as if they are not intended to be ridiculous at all. Always full of tongue-in-cheek humor, social satire, and told in a simplistic straightforward prose style similar to that of children’s literature or early pulp fiction, Carlton Mellick III’s work is one of a kind, to say the least.
He lives in Portland, OR, the bizarro mecca.
Giveaway
Enter the Rafflecopter widget below for your chance to win a copy of Clownfellas: Tales of the Bozo Family and a HYDRA mug.
Latest posts by Heather (see all)
- Nuclear Blonde by A.J. Lape - March 2, 2026
- Time Hop Coffee Shop by Phaedra Patrick - December 13, 2025
- How To Grieve Like a Victorian by Amy Carol Reeves - December 13, 2025
Hello there, You’ve done an incredible job. I will definitely digg
it and personally recommend to my friends. I’m confident they’ll be benefited from this site.
seo Programlari recently posted..seo Programlari
Reply »
Oh my gosh, the mimes are the opposition?! That’s hilarious! I love the ideas in this book – so bizarre!
Thanks for being a part of the tour.
Reply »